(A transcript of a conversation between Rich Christiansen and Dr. Jeff Spencer at the Wizard Academy in Austin, Texas May 2013)

Rich: Hi everyone! I’m here again with Dr. Jeff Spencer again at the Wizard Academy in Austin, TX and I always so look forward coming down to these events because I get to hang out with all these supersmart, brilliant people.

Dr. Spencer: Like yourself and it’s such an honor to meet you so thanks for the invitation.

Rich: Dr. Jeff Spencer here. He’s the founder of a concept called The Champion’s Blueprint. Dr. Jeff has indeed worked with champions throughout the world. Last time we met you taught me an incredible principle called The Sustainable Championship’s Blueprint which is how you endure once you’ve hit success and I would love to have you share that concept with my followers.

Dr. Spencer: Well, I appreciate that and I think the first thing, Rich is to realize that success is never an accident. It’s the very deliberate outcome of very deliberate actions that are consistently applied. I looked at the success that I had with all the people I worked with and said, “Can I actually draw what this looks like? What is the structure that enables them to do two things? How they get to the top, which is the first part of the journey, and after that how we create a lasting legacy that serves as permanent almost footprint on what it is that we did with our talents to create a life of value, purpose, passion, and productivity.” The Champion’s Blueprint is a model that I created that has six different stages that a person goes through to develop the capacity to consistently create excellence in their life.

Rich: So as fast as you can, rip off what that looks like and I’m going to focus on the tail-end because that’s the part that captivates me.

Dr. Spencer: Alright. Tthere are six different steps of the Champion’s Blueprint.

Number One: You’ve got to have a mindset and you’ve got to know what to do and when to capitalize on life’s opportunities and avoid life’s pitfalls.

Number Two: You’ve got to be able to build and have the resources to carry the weight, to be able to climb the wall and get to the top and stay there.

Number Three: You’ve got to develop the skill and the capacity to do the action steps to be able to get to the top and perform at a level that is consistent and enables you to achieve your goals.

Number Four: Stage four is transition. That’s where we duplicate the actions that we took to be able to create our breakout performance to perform the very first time at the top.

Rich: So that’s going up the curve. That’s when you hit your first big success.

Dr. Spencer: That’s it. That’s going up the curve. That’s where you have that breakout performance and finally performing at a level that is consistent with your goals. Now, at that point the task is to make a new normal through consistency and duplication of those processes. Now once you get to the top you’ve got to adapt because once you get to the top the rules change. You need a whole other mindset, a whole other skill set to adapt to the challenges and stresses at the top.

Rich: So what you’re saying is if you keep doing what you were doing to get to the top in the first place you’re going to fail.

Dr. Spencer: Well that’s exactly right because the stresses and the strains at the top are different.

Number Five: Unless you adapt to the top to maintain a relevancy then forget it, you’re not going to be able to stay there. But it you stay there then you’re going to master what it takes to repeat this level of success consistently then at that point you’re at stage six.

Number Six: This is where you ride the wave. You peak, you prepare, you perform, and you pause and you ride this wave to complete a full legacy and that’s the way that champions do it.

Rich: Beautiful, absolutely awesome. This was a great insight for me. So many of us hit success and then flash in the pan and the big insight for me was simply this: Once you hit a peak you have to take a pause, rest, prepare, perform and indeed that’s what differentiates a good athlete from a champion or an incredible, sustainable, multiple win businessman from a one-hit wonder.

Dr. Spencer: Well that’s exactly the problem. Many people blow themselves up and they succumb to the myth that to be worthy of success you’ve got to kill yourself day in and day out, but that’s not the way they do it. You have to match your efforts with your recovery to create sustainability. That’s the way you create a long and successful legacy.

Rich: So that would explain why Tiger Woods only plays in the big, major golf tournaments and does not play in every one.

Dr. Spencer: That’s it.

Rich: And I know I can’t tell what athletes you worked with but-

Dr. Spencer: Actually I did work with Tiger.

Rich: You did work with Tiger?

Dr. Spencer: I did work with Tiger. These hands have actually been on Tiger.

Rich: I know what those hands do are magic. I can’t wait tomorrow to have them on me and fix me up good so thanks so much, Jeff.

Dr. Spencer: It’s my pleasure. Be well everybody. Onward and upward we’ll see you at the top.